A low pressure system being watched by the National Hurricane Center is slowing becoming better organized and could form into a tropical depression in the next 24 to 48 hours, the center said in its Wednesday evening (Aug. 20) update.

The elongated area of showers and thunderstorms was located several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands and was moving west-northwestward at 10-15 mph toward the Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean Sea.

"After that time, land interaction could limit development potential over the weekend," wrote Senior Hurricane Specialist Jack Bevin.

"Regardless of tropical cyclone formation, gusty winds and heavy rainfall are possible across portions of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands on Thursday night and Friday. Interests in those islands should closely monitor the progress of this system."

If necessary, an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate the system on Thursday afternoon.

Tropical formation chances over the next 48 hours were placed at 50 percent and 70 percent over the next five days.

The National Weather Service in New Orleans issued this statement on its Facebook page: "It remains too soon to say when, where, or even if this system will make any eventual landfalls. At this point, it is simply something to keep an eye on over the coming days."